Degreasing apparatus



VJuly 9, 1940.

G. woLl-F DEGREASING APPARATUS v Filed May 25, 41936' @zie/27am l @601g Patented July 9, 1940 UNITED STATI-:s

PATENT ol-FICE .oEGicEAsING APPAnA'rUs many slliucationma 25, 1936, sereine.' 81,709' In GermanyNovember "I, 1935 1 This invention relatesA to theA cleaning ofv various articles, and has to do with anapparatus for degreasing and the like; 1

jecting them to the action of volatile organic solvents, particularly vchlorinated hydrocarbons cleaning metal articles and such astrichlorethylene, perchlorethylene, tetrachlorethylene, etc; The vapors 4of these VChlo-- 1o rinated hydrocarbons are heavier than air and, when mixed with air, are injurious if-breathed; In the use of the degreasing solvents referredto the solvent is commonly heated to the boiling point of water, orhigher, in suitable containers l5 or casings which are open at-their top for insertion and removal of the articles being treated,

and vapors of the solvent are evolved in considerable volume. Inorder to prevent escape of these vapors to the atmosphere cooling means is provided above the. upper portion of'the casing for chilling. and condensing the vapors, the condensatebeing deposited within the casing., Apparatuses of this character have come into errtensve use and have proved to be-highly ef- 25 ficient and .economical in industrial processes, in

which .the use of the apparatus is continuous or substantially so. There are many places, however, such as repair shops, garages, etc., in which the use of degreasing apparatus wouldofneces sity be intermittent and the apparatus might be out of'use for considerable lengths ottime. In

such cases there wouldinevitably be loss of solvent by evaporation and the use of the apparatus becomes less economieal.- Also, there -are 435 many articles which would be injuriously ai'-V fected bythe heat of'the solventl which, ,as above noted, is commonly heated to an appreciably high temperature in apparatuses of the type now commonly used; above referred to.

10 The instant invention is directed, in general,

and to apparatus for practicing 'such process.-

More specically, my invention is directed to an apparatus for degreasing articles without necessity of heating the solvent to an appreciably high \temp erature, which treatment may therefore be termed a cold treatment, and such that the treatment may be performed intermittently and with increased economy and escape of solvent vapors to the atmosphere is effectively prevented. Further` obects and advantages of my invention will r.

appearirom the detail description.

It is known to degrease metal articles by sub1' (Cri.l 141-1) The single gure of the drawing .is a transverse vertical sectional view of an vapparatus embodying my invention.

In the apparatus Ashown an open` top tank 23 issuitably supported, as by means of-angle mem- ,bers 23a, within casing 22. The bottom of tank -23 is spaced above the bottom of casing 22 and this tank is divided by a partition 24 into two compartments 25 and 26 each of which contains an appropriate body of av volatile degreasing solvent, 'such as trichlorethylene, the vapors. of which are appreciably heavier than air. Tank 23 isspaced away from-the side walls of casing 22 and defines, with the side portions of the cas'- ing, side drying compartments 21 and 2-8 which open at their lower ends into the space beneath tank 23, A conduit 29opens through the bottom o'f casing 22, beneath tank 23, this cond'uitbeing connected to the intake of a centrifugalsuction fan 30 the discharge of which isconnected by a of which extends an outlet conduit 3 la. The container or vessel 3|'is in the form of a'tower' andis substantially filled with a suitable material m of a character which readily absorbs the solvent `vapors, such as rags soaked with oil, coal, or other suitable material. This material may be removed from the container at appropriate times and the solvent recovered therefrom in a known manner. The tank 23 structure -for separating the interior of casing 22 into degreasing and drying compartments'. It will be noted that the upper edge of this tank is an appreciable distance below the top of casing 22, this distance'being greater thanthe height of basket 5 of reticulated construction provided serves,'in effect, as 'a partition usV with an elongated inverted U-shaped handle 5a,

solvent within compartment 25' or 26 of tank 23,

and are then withdrawn, the basketbeing placed upon the supporting bars 6 within one ofthe drying compartments. 'I'he fan 3l! induces down .flow of air through compartments 21 and 28 thus quickly drying the articles placed within these compartments, this ow of air also serving effectively to prevent escape of solvent vapors to atmospherethrough the open top of casing 22.

What I claim is:`

In a degreasing and dryingapparatus'of the character described, av casing open at its top, a tank open at its top within said casing and spaced 20 conduit 29a to a container 3l from the upper end f from the side and bottom walls thereof, the top ments, means within said drying compartments of said tank being below the top of said casing, 'for supporting degreased articles to be dried, and

a partition within said tank having its upper suction means having its intake connected to said edge below the top 0f the tank and dividing the casing beneath said tank effective for inducing latter into two compartments; for containing a air and solvent vapors downward through said 5 VOlatile degreasing SOlvent the vapors of which drying compartments in the operation of the apare heavier than air, said tank defining with the params,

side portions of said casing two drying compart- GEORG WOLFF. 

